Analysis Blog # 3

Sex, lies, drugs, murder, midgets, malpractice, infidelity, interracial relationships; sounds like a crazy life someone might hope to fulfill during their life time. It more resembles a typical Tuesday night in the crazy world of Nip/Tuck. In a world where anything goes, Nip/Tuck rules. A show viewed as being “cutting edge” and ultra hip, Nip/Tuck has introduced a new style and era onto cable television. Nip/Tuck uses pure shock value with a ridiculous plot and an sexed up appearance driven theme to propel itself and make itself popular to the public.

Nip/Tuck uses incredible outrageous plot developments that totally push the envelope of good taste to shock their viewers into watching the show. Nip/Tuck contains so many crazy elements into its storyline that any viewer watching is simply shocked into watching as a deer in headlights. There are transsexual, incestual, and very taboo relationships throughout the series. An entire season is dedicated to the theme of a gay, castrated, psychopathic serial killer destroying all the works of Sean and Christian, the two surgeons in the show. The writers have taken the show time of the show rather liberally, spicing up all the dialogue with curse and very controversial words. The show pretty much asks for the FCC to fine it for indecency every week. Everything is super contemporary, and music plays a very large role through the show. The show’s presentation is all about style and presentation.

Nip/Tuck uses an over sexual appearance theme that defines the show. The entire show can be boiled down to two things, sex and appearance. The appearance part is obvious to anyone who has even heard of the show, because the two main characters are plastic surgeons. Their whole lives are based around making people happy through changing their physical appearance. But somehow they both realize what they do somewhat shallow, and often have struggles with their meaning and purpose in life regarding to their occupation and their friendship towards each other. The music, clothes, colors, dialogue, pretty much all visual and audible eye candy ooze a coolness that is just so smooth. The target audience must be a younger, more hip one. Everything they do it cutting (literally) edge, from just plain getting themselves some coffee in the morning to when they go out at night and not try, but automatically hook up with the opposite sex. Although there have been a few sexuality questioning episodes, just for purely shock value. The sex part is so engrained into what Nip/Tuck is that if you took it out your would probably lose about half the show. Some could argue that the show displays forms of soft-core pornography. In the first episode of the third season they had a threesome. In the first episode of the fourth season they had a foursome. The show constantly pushes the envelope of what previously has been accepted as acceptable, which have usually been set be previous episodes. Nip/Tuck constantly tries to one-up itself, and it tries to never stop.

One might never come across a person who is having a adulterous and incestuous relationship with their transsexual mother, but that is just another episode of Nip/Tuck. The average person’s craziest day is just another ho-hum episode in the lives of Christian and Sean. With such an extravagant and decadent show such as this, it is no wonder why it is so popular. Thank you and have a nice day.